Thursday, November 25, 2010

Cuisinart Pie Crust

I've come to find there are a lot of recipes for pie crust out there... I don't have the patience for most of them. Raise your hand if you enjoy cutting butter into flour. Didn't think so. This, however, is fantastic. Quick, easy, and seemingly foolproof. I've used it twice now, once savory and once sweet - changing only the amount of salt.

Pulse flour, butter, oil & salt until crumbly. Drizzle in ice water and blend just until a ball starts to form.

Dump out onto parchment paper or a sil-pat and roll thin. Place pie pan on top and flip the whole thing over. Fold the extra dough under, all the way around the edge, and pinch. Chill in the fridge before baking, 30 minutes or overnight. Makes 1 double or 2 single crusts.

Tips:
Make sure to cover/seal dough well when refrigerating. You don't want any rogue odors latching on when you're not looking.
To pre-bake shells (like for cheesy chicken pot pie) prick holes around crust with a fork and bake for ~15 minutes at 375F. If bubbles appear, carefully pierce with a skewer and smooth down with a long-handled spoon. You can also put parchment paper in the crust and fill it with dry beans or use pie weights.
If you're feeling fancy, you can seal them with an egg glaze. Just beat an egg, brush it on the hot crust then return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes. (I haven't tried this, too lazy when without is just fine... but now you know what I know).